Tone library / Foo Fighters / The Pretender

The Pretender amp settings — Fender Mustang LT25

The Foo Fighters guitar tone for “The Pretender”, dialed in for a Fender Mustang LT25 with a Squier Affinity Stratocaster. Studio version, Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace (2007) — main riff and heavy chorus tone

Original rig

Gibson Trini Lopez Standard (bridge PAF humbucker) -> Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier (Modern High Gain channel) -> 4x12 cab; Vox AC30 for clean sections

Aggressive, saturated wall-of-sound post-grunge distortion with tight low-end thump and cutting upper-mids

Amp settings — Fender Mustang LT25

CHANNEL90S ROCK amp model

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	8
Bass	6
Mid	6
Treble	5
Master	6

Don’t have a Fender Mustang LT25? See this song on other amps → Match your own rig →

Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE8 VOLUME10

Why these settings

The '90S ROCK' model recreates the Mesa Dual Rectifier used for the massive chorus wall. To compensate for the Squier Strat's thinner single-coil bridge pickup compared to Grohl's humbuckers, gain is pushed to 8 and bass to 6, while treble is pulled down to 5 (with the guitar tone knob at 8) to prevent ice-pick harshness. Clean intro/verse: roll the guitar volume down to 3-4 or switch the preset model to 60S UK CLN. Middle has no knob on the LT25: press the encoder to open the preset, press it again on the amp model, then select MIDDLE on the display and turn the encoder.

PRO TIPDig in hard with a heavy pick near the bridge using firm, percussive downstrokes; Grohl's wall-of-sound attack relies on hitting the strings forcefully to compress the front of the high-gain channel.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Fender Mustang LT25. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

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